Dr. Ebenezer Agyemang (right) receiving an award from the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences – KNUST
EBENAGE HERBAL Production and Consult, manufacturer of Hepa Plus mixture and other herbal medicines, in Kumasi, has developed Hepa Plus Pharmacy App to offer online pharmaceutical services to its customers in Ghana and other parts of the world.
Two other Apps the health facility has created to make health products and services more accessible and available to people are Hepa Plus Store and Hepa Plus Delivery.
Chief Executive Officer of Ebenage Herbal Production and Consult, Dr. Ebenezer Agyemang, who announced this, said his organisation undertook the technological approach to help solve a major health care problem in the country.
He was speaking at a symposium organised by the Department of Herbal Medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) last Friday, August 19, 2022. It was under the theme: “The State of the Integration of Herbal and Orthodox Medicine in Ghana: The Role of KNUST.”
Dr. Agyemang explained that with the Hepa Plus Pharmacy, patients are allowed to buy their medications from pharmacies within their location and have them delivered to their doorstep, adding that it also allows people to upload their prescriptions.
Regarding the Hepa Plus Store, he said, it allows people to manage their online pharmacy, products and orders, adding that shop owners can also make orders from the biggest warehouse to stock their shops.
With the Delivery App, the Ebenage boss, who holds Master’s Degree in Public Health with specialty in Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety from KNUST, said it permits people to receive orders from nearby stores while enabling others to make money by completing orders.
He said even though the Apps have not been officially launched, they are available on Android platforms for downloads onto mobile phones, laptops and other electronic devices.
According to him, very soon the Apps would also be made available on App store for those using Apple phones to access them.
The CEO stressed that patients who log onto the Hepa Plus Pharmacy App to buy any product of their choice also have a number of pharmacies available at their disposal to choose, enter and buy their products for onward delivery.
With these Apps, he said, “customers need not to struggle to get herbal products or orthodox products. We also have spaces for surgical products, medical devices, supplements and anything about health.”
While appealing to pharmaceutical companies and herbal shops to download the Hepa Plus Store App to enable them host and start selling their products, Dr. Agyemang also entreated Ghanaians to download the Hepa Plus Pharmacy App and the Delivery App.
He described the strategic move of his outfit as a bigger intervention in the health sector aimed at contributing to the general wellbeing of Ghanaians for national development.
In its bid to serve people in the rural areas, Dr. Agyemang said, his organisation has initiated the Hepa Plus Pack strategic plan, explaining that anyone who buys from the pack would get a free delivery nationwide at a reduced price.
“The interesting thing is that you may be in Kumasi or Accra and your mother may be in Bogoso, who is not using an Android phone, you only set your address to Bogoso and all the pharmacy shops, herbal shops or all shops available in Bogoso will be seen,” he said.
The Ebenage CEO further explained that, “When you enter any of the shops, you can buy a product virtually and be delivered to your mother. So it is a kind of App that will not only serve the middle to upper class, but also those in the middle and upper class can use it to help those in the lower class.”
He projected that herbal medicine will be the backbone of Ghana’s economy in the near future, as about 70 per cent of Ghana’s population currently depends on herbal medicine for their primary health care.
He said herbal medicine practice has taken its rightful place in the Ghanaian economy, creating jobs, reducing unemployment, undertaking full time research and solving major public health issues.
This, he noted, is the reason KNUST decided to train practitioners who will not just produce herbal medicine, but also be the link between normal practice of herbalism and allopathic medicine.
Dr. Agyemang pledged Ebenage Herbal Production and Consult’s willingness to fully sponsor any research work that will focus on producing a particular medication to combat a disorder annually.
He commended the Department of Herbal Medicine at KNUST for playing key roles in the acceptability of herbal medicine and production of medical herbalists, who are currently serving in various hospitals and participating in health education.
Other speakers at the symposium were Dr. Caleb Mawuli Agbali, Senior Lecturer, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cape Coast, who represented Professor Samuel Ato Duncan of Centre of Awareness, and Dr. Kwabena Safo, Kantanka Herbal Pharmaceuticals and Research Centre.
FROM James Quansah, Kumasi